Sometimes a watch feels special. The pieces I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing from Glashutte Original have always had a certain aura that made them feel like extraordinary watches, none more so than the Pano line. Some time ago, I spent time with the PanoMaticLunar in the limited edition forest Green, and this watch immediately struck a chord with me. It was everything design-wise I liked in a dress watch, had arguably useful complications and presented these in a way that only German watchmaking can. It was a fantastic wristwatch, the finish was superb, and it certainly had that “wow” factor. In short, I was smitten by this first experience from the Glashutte Original.

Fast forward to today, and Glashutte Original is adding to the Pano line with the PanoMaticCalendar. The Pano line already offers some fascinating pieces, from power reserve models, chronographs and a tourbillion, to name a few. But the latest PanoMaticCalendar takes the PanoMaticLunar and adds a monthly calendar complication to the dial along the lower right-hand crescent side. Initially, this is available in two versions. A striking platinum and black version with a partly skeletonised dial, allowing for a great movement view, and a more traditional red gold version with a solid-faced dial. Both have a Sapphire display case back, allowing incredible views of the movement powering these new watches.

These watches feature new movements to allow for the annual calendar complication. The red gold features the calibre 92-09, and the platinum version houses the calibre 92-10. Essentially the difference from my understanding is due to the more visible components and finish for the top side of the movement for the skeletonised platinum version. Aside from that, performance-wise, these two calibres are identical, and both use silicon balance springs and offer a staggering 100 hours of power reserve while beating at 28,800 half-oscillations per hour. The annual calendar complication allows the months with 30 and 31 days into account, meaning the date on the PanoMaticCalendar only needs to be corrected once each year on the 1st of March. As with all the movements from Glashutte Original, the finishing is superb, featuring three-quarter plate stripe finishing and balance bridges engraved and finished by hand! Gold engraving and polished and blued screws adorn the movements in these watches, and even the steel components are highly polished with bevelled edges. Glashutte Original takes finishing very seriously, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Pano line.

I spent a few days getting to know the red-gold version. Its 42mm case features a mix of satin-brushed and polished finishes and a slightly domed sapphire crystal. On the wrist, this wears every bit as well as the PanoMaticLunar despite being 2mm larger in diameter. It has a presence at 42mm diameter but without being too overwhelming on my just over 7” wrist. The red-gold is set off nicely by the silver dial, which has a fine opaline finish, and the touches of blue on the second’s hand and the moon phase display. The panorama date display is framed beautifully in the red-gold and easily legible in black against the ivory background. This style is carried over to the month display on the right-hand side again in black with an ivory background. From a dial balance point of view, I think they got this right. Everything looks exceptionally well done. For a dial that features hours, minutes and seconds on a second sundial, then providing a panorama date, moon phase and month independently not to look cluttered is quite the achievement. But one that Glashutte Original has pulled off nicely here, and the Pano line is all the better for this new addition. This could be a very popular set of complications for many people.

Both the new PanoMaticCalendar models come on fantastic quality Louisiana alligator nubuck leather with the choice of either a clasp or buckle. The brown on the red-gold version was wonderfully grained, and I'm sure it would age very well as it broke in. The Platinum version comes on a black Alligator to match the black and platinum colour theme. Neither of these watches, like the rest of the Pano line, have bracelet options, but as these are dress watches, I think that makes sense and opting for high-quality leather straps with matching precious metal hardware was a great decision.

So final thoughts on the PanoMaticCalendar. I enjoyed the PanoMaticLunar, which, although 2mm in diameter larger in terms of case size, wears every bit as well on my wrist. I would understand if this could be a stretch too far if 40mm already wears large on your wrist. But what you gain from that extra case size, though, with the new calibre movements, annual calendar functionality, and month display, is a very appealing proposition if the size suits your wrist.

These red-gold and platinum pieces are beautiful works of art and represent some of the very best of German watchmaking, in my opinion, but this comes at a price, understandably. The platinum version of the PanoMaticCalendar is a very limited piece and comes in at £34,100. Ouch! If that’s a bit of a stretch, then the red-gold version is slightly less at £25,300. And this is on the somewhat more expensive clasp version. Neither of these watches is what you would consider a budget option, but we are talking about watches featuring precious metal cases and hand finishing at a very high level.

If you're lucky enough to be someone who is in the market for a dress watch in this price range and are a fan of that distinctive German style, then you would be hard-pressed not to find the PanoMaticCalendar an intriguing and beautiful option! Excellent finishing, useful and well-executed complications and finished in two precious metal options make the PanoMaticCalendar a great addition to the Pano lineup! Hopefully, they will follow these up with some steel versions and more dial colours, as I think this would make the watch an even greater proposition for many watch enthusiasts.

To learn more about the PanoMaticCalendar, check out both watches here at Glashütte Original.

Specifications: Red Gold version

Functions:

Hour and minute
Small second
Panorama Date
Retrograde annual calendar with month display
Moon phase

Case:

Red gold
5 bar waterproof
42.00 mm case diameter
12.40 mm case height

Dial:

Galvanised Silver
Surface opalin (fine matt)
Indices applied
Printed scales
Black Panorama Date on an ivory-coloured background
Black month display on an ivory-coloured background
Moon phase display blue/gold

Movement:

100 h Power reserve
28.800 vph, equivalent to 4 Hz Frequency
Glashütte three-quarter plate with stripe finish
Balance bridge engraved by hand
Gold-coloured engraved text
Skeletonised rotor (off-centre) with double-G symbol and 21-carat gold oscillation weight
Regulator-free fine adjustment with two swan-neck springs
Screws polished/blued
Polished steel parts
Bevelled edges